Google innovates its image search and shopping experiences

Google has expanded its ad platform for retailers with the launch of "Shop the Look" - a visual carousel that features products similar to a user's search query.

This new ad product will aim to wrestle user attention from image-based social platforms popular with brands and retailers, such as Pinterest and Instagram. It also extends Google's built-in visual search ad and shopping features, bringing it in closer competition with search hopefuls and e-commerce players across the ecosystem. The new ad product has launched in beta and is only available in the US for the time being.

The Shop the Look carousel is housed in Google's section for Sponsored Links - directly underneath the search box and above traditional text-based results. It features shoppable images that match a user's search query, so when a user types in "cocktail dress," for example, the carousel will show a series of images of people wearing such dresses as part of their outfit.

When tapping on a look, users are able to shop for the dress in question, and for other items featured in the outfit, like purses, shoes, jewelry and so on. Shoppable looks are supplied by brands, bloggers, retailers, and publishers sourced among Google's trusted partners, which currently includes Yahoo-owned online fashion store Polyvore, visual marketing platform Curalate, and Instagram-influencer shopping service LIKEtoKNOW.it.

The new visual search feature builds on the Google's recent launched Showcase Shopping ads, which brought image-based listings to the Sponsored Links section. Shop the Look expands the company's revenue potential by making its platform more welcoming to online advertisers and retailers by:

Lifting Google's advertising proposition to brands and retailers. Advertisers can tie in their Adwords campaign into Google's visual search ads, and connect shoppable images to keywords. Visual ads often lead to more frequent and higher quality quality click-through rates, since images convey more information to users about a product. This boils down to idea that images provide a richer experience than text, and are therefore drive higher engagement - a simple tenet on social platforms. Meanwhile, around 44% of consumers use images to "find ideas" while shopping online, according to Google research cited byRetail Dive, and Shop the Look gives advertisers a direct pathway to tap into this habit.

Diminishing other image-based social and shopping platforms. Shop the Look will aim to divert attention away from apps like Instagram and Pinterest that are popular destinations both for consumers, brands, and retailer advertisers. Consumers can now turn to Google search as a one stop shop for finding and buying products, and brands and advertisers will want to join the Shop the Look program to create an additional channel to reach consumers. As a result, Shop the Look strengthens Google against other advertising and e-commerce players. It puts Google up against Amazon-like e-tailers, and more importantly fortifies the search giant's position against players like Pinterest, which is transforming itself into a visual search and shopping portal, and Facebook, which has its own search and e-commerce ambitions.

Leveraging influencers to drive engagement and purchases. Shop the Look will feature images taken by fashion bloggers and influencers to entice consumers down the purchasing funnel. This will attract these kinds of creators, who will hope to benefit from the new monetization opportunity. It also adds a social element to Google's platform. All of this should result in more sales. Nearly 60% of US consumers consult a blog or social media post on a mobile device while in-store shopping, and influencer recommendations are 22 times more effective than recommendations from an average customer.

Opening the door for camera-based AR search advertising. In the future, users might be able to take a photo of a product and submit it to Google as a visual search query. Google would then return product images or visual ads related to the submitted photo, in a similar way as its search by image function currently works. Pinterest is set to release a visual search product like this soon. In the more distant future, users might be able to see promotional images and coupons instantaneously as they scan physical products via Google's platform on their mobile devices. Such a product would bear a resemblance to Snapchat's AR advertising patent.